Think we are Greening the Greensward -Think Again -Urban Reforestation and Streetscape on a Nearly Unimaginable Scale

Considering the air quality/respiratory health issues over there, some of the efforts are understandable, so long as it isn’t designed solely as an aesthetic.  The attempt west of Beijing to reforest in an effort to stave off the desertification also is a fascinating one – anyone know how it’s holding up?

In some sense, the projects under FDR may qualify in scale – and some of the CCC’s work with invasives I think are also under the “large regional scale” environmental projects.  I’d also suggest that while incremental, both NYC and DC have large scale street tree planning initiatives (albeit less “designed”).

To me, due to our climate in the midwest and much of the eastern regions, the “reforestation” seems to take hold simply with the withdrawal of human interventions – though often with more aggressive invasive species.  Rather than spend the money on “beautification” projects, taking initiative to have the landscapes in the right-of-ways to be productive in some sense would be helpful (the mowing, tree trimming costs might be offset with some sort of benefit).  Encouraging the culling down of deer herds would be a good start in restoring the health of forested areas on the east coast…

I applaud the two planting initiatives in principle, however, both the planting of a monoculture and the removal of native species for exotics is dumbfounded. As for the argument against the mass expenditures on such an undertaking in favour of spending the funds on necessities such as healthcare, I feel that if more healthy cities were planned in the first space, we could be dealing with smaller healthcare costs today. Greater green coverage, bike lanes, etc. could end up benefiting the cities of Chongqing and Qingdao, it’s just that these results are less tangible than hospitals and schools. I find these types of projects are only achievable in places like China with a centralized government. In democracies, politicians are too concerned with reelection that they will always choose the projects which will garner the most votes. Sadly, these means many of the projects in our realm will fall to the wayside. However bizarre it may be to plant $1 billion worth of gingko trees because it’s the favourite species of a politician, it’s refreshing to see a landscape project get implemented on such a scale. I wish this type of project could be realized in other countries as I feel the benefits will go far beyond simply aesthetics.